Andy Robertson: If it was easy, Scotland would qualify every four years

Scotland captain Andy Robertson has highlighted the scale of their World Cup hiatus in a bid to put their current position in perspective and lift a disappointed dressing room after Sunday’s 2-1 win over Belarus.

Steve Clarke’s side were booed by a small section of the Hampden crowd after completing their double-header with a third consecutive victory, which left them on 10 points from four Group C games.

Despite obvious concerns over the performance against the group outsiders, Scotland fans were later celebrating a guaranteed play-off place at least when Greece suffered defeat in Denmark.

Scotland will likely need a point in Greece next month to set up a chance to qualify automatically for their first World Cup finals since 1998 by beating Denmark at Hampden on November 18.

And that opportunity was the key focus of Robertson even in the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s encounter.

The Liverpool left-back said: “I said to the lads after the game, I went around a couple of them and asked them what age they were the last time Scotland qualified for a World Cup.

“Because if it were easy, we’d be qualifying every four years, and it’s not. People have come before us, not qualified. We’ve not qualified. So it’s not easy. When they come to the next World Cup, it will be 28 years, and we are the next group to try and stop it.

“We’ve made history in terms of getting back to tournaments (Euro 2020 and 2024), but we also want to make history now.

“But it’s far from easy. You’re playing against good teams. Belarus are no mugs. We should be beating them comfortably, but they can play.

“We’ve managed to get the win, and we’ve got six points. Maybe ten years ago, maybe eight years ago even, would we have got six points with how we performed? Possibly not.

“I played in a game where we drew with Lithuania at home, which was probably similar. We’re 10 points from 12 and I think that’s a pretty good points tally.”

Robertson felt there were problems on and off the ball and with decision-making in the final third. Without making excuses, he thought they were possibly impacted by fatigue after Thursday’s win over Greece and the effects of reduced preparation time.

But the 31-year-old added: “I think if you offered any Scotland fan or any of you guys or any of us guys that at the end of October you’ll be on 10 points, we would all bite your hand off.

“We’re two games away from getting to the World Cup, which at the start of the campaign, probably a lot of people didn’t put us down for.

“Come November, we’ve got to perform better, we know that, and if we do that, then hopefully we can achieve what we want to achieve.

“I think criticism will come our way, but also I hope that there’s a bit of perspective, and also a bit of positivity, come November, because we’ve put ourselves in a fantastic position.

“If we win the two games, then we’ll be going to America and nobody will be moaning.”